Concerning the Spiritual in Art, 1910
Part II: About painting
To let the eye stray over a palette, splashed with many colours, produces a dual result. In the first place one receives a PURELY PHYSICAL IMPRESSION, one of pleasure and contentment at the varied and beautiful colours.
The eye is either warmed or else soothed and cooled. But these physical sensations can only be of short duration.
They are merely superficial and leave no lasting impression, for the soul is unaffected. But although the effect of the colours is forgotten when the eye is turned away, the superficial impression of varied colour may be the starting point of a whole chain of related sensations.
On the average man only the impressions caused by very familiar objects, will be purely superficial.
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Wassily Kandinsky | Roses, 1993 |